something's up!

“Something’s Up!” is the ultimate collection of the distinctive, darkly beautiful John Barry Sound – spy movies, swinging comedies, and social realism. Compiled by Saint Etienne’s Bob Stanley, “Something’s Up!” covers the era when London was the driver of popular culture, and John Barry went from being just another British arranger to an actual pop star. The press talked about his E-Type life and called Jane Birkin his “E-Type wife”.

At the heart of this was his work on the most beloved James Bond films. With 1964’s Goldfinger, 1965’s Thunderball and 1967’s You Only Live Twice, John Barry made Bond his own; his fame and fortune were secured. Further big commissions like The Ipcress File and The Quiller Memorandum came in, and Barry essentially defined the sound of the cold war spy movie. They also enabled Barry to pursue more unusual requests – the tense and controversial short movie Dutchman; Bryan Forbes’ tale of isolation and paranoia The Whisperers – for purely artistic reasons. He even tried his hand at advertising work; ‘The Girl With The Sun In Her Hair’ is taken from a Sunsilk shampoo ad.

Other highlights of “Something’s Up!” include not only acknowledged classics (the Bond movies, The Knack, Born Free) but other now-obscure films whose soundtracks (King Rat, The Chase, Séance on a Wet Afternoon) are more widely discussed than the actual movies.

John Barry’s soundtracks were among the first to sell in numbers on record, often irrespective of whether the purchaser had seen the movie. He was a new breed; his music was designed to have a life of its own, on vinyl as well as celluloid. After the success of Ace’s “The More Things Change: TV Film and Studio Work 1968–73”, “Something’s Up!” will work a magic all of its own.